At this year's Synod Assembly, those present voted to become a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Synod and passed the following as our Synod Welcome Statement:
Journeying together as we love Christ and love all for the sake of the world, the Northern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America strives to reflect the expansive diversity of the Body of Christ. We welcome, celebrate, embrace, and uplift people of every race, national origin, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, health and mental health status, neurodiversity, and socioeconomic status. We reject any other boundaries humans use that separate us from the body of Christ. We realize we are saints and sinners redeemed by God’s grace; we commit ourselves to the ongoing work of anti-racism and racial equity. We continue to work to ensure the welcome of all historically marginalized communities as full participants in our life together in Christ.
We celebrate the hard work that the RIC Task Force did, and we look towards continuing the work through the newly formed subcommittee.
We know that many of your members might have questions about what that means. A bulletin insert has been created that congregations are encouraged to use that explains what it means to be a RIC Synod. You can download the bulletin insert by clicking here. Additional resources will be posted to the RIC page on our website found at www.nisynod.org/ric
For more information on ReconcilingWorks, the national organization that sponsors the RIC program, visit www.reconcilingworks.org
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